More than 400K Borrowers to Receive Settlement Claim Forms

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced Tuesday that claim forms will be sent out to borrowers who may be eligible for settlement funds due to losing their home to foreclosure.

[IMAGE]

The funds are made available through the $25 billion ""national mortgage settlement"":http://nationalmortgagesettlement.com/, which set aside $1.5 billion in payments for 2 million qualifying borrowers.

About 432,584 California borrowers will receive claim forms. Only borrowers who experienced a foreclosure between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011 and those who had mortgages serviced by one of the five largest servicers in the settlement - Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo â€" will be eligible.

Payment checks are expected to be mailed in mid-2013.

Those who are eligible and received claim forms should return the form by the deadline, January 18, 2013, or file the claim form online at ""www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com"":http://nationalmortgagesettlement.com/.

Borrowers who need assistance with filing a claim or who believe they should have received a claim but did not can contact the settlement administrator at 866-430-8358, or email [email protected].

Staff is available Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST.

Eligible borrowers do not need to prove financial harm to receive a payment and can still pursue a lawsuit against their mortgage servicer or participate in the separate ""Independent Foreclosure Review process"":http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-foreclosure-review.htm.

Attorney General Harris also warned of potential scams that may ask for personal information or money for settlement-related assistance.